Parents, beware!

In this new era where social media is intertwined in our daily lives, the simple act of parents sharing content or going live can inadvertently put children at risk and have unintended consequences.

In Jamaica, children are going missing at an alarmingly frequent rate, many last seen in uniforms. While some children are found dead or alive, others disappear into the abyss of human trafficking.

Social media has now become a space for parents to share their children’s milestones, often posting photos wearing their uniforms. However, this online exposure is a mixed blessing.

THE DANGERS OF OVER-SHARING

Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison warns against these dangers.

“When you put out too much information, it empowers people who want to harm your child. Unfortunately, we have had cases where persons show up at schools, take children, and in some cases the worst happens,” Gordon-Harrison explained to The Gleaner.

One chilling case highlights the story of a 16-year-old teenage victim.

“There was a female teenager who was corresponding with someone online over a period of time,” Children’s Advocate shared.

“She eventually met the individual in person, thinking she was safe, and that was how her human-trafficking ordeal began.”

While this case involved a child directly engaging online, it shows how predators use digital footprints to create a false sense of security to exploit vulnerable children.

PREDATORS EXPLOIT SOCIAL MEDIA

Convicted child predator Jack Reynolds, who spent over 12 years in prison in the United States for molesting children in the 1980s, claimed to have had over 300 victims and admitted in an interview that social media is giving predators more tools to harm children.

He identified targets and groomed them by studying their online and real-world behaviours.

“I would check out their family situation. I would check out their clothing to see how well they were, you know, financially,” the predator admitted.

Reynolds was interviewed by an investigator in 2017 after serving almost 13 years in an Indiana prison for child molestation. He agreed to share the techniques he used to groom and target children, with the hope of preventing more kids from becoming victims.

Videos of Reynolds divulging the tactics he used to target little boys have resurfaced and have been trending on social media.

“I would check out their social interaction with other kids ... . I would give them special attention, congratulate them, talk to them when I know that I would never be allowed to talk to anybody else,” he said.

This grooming tactic is eerily similar to instances in Jamaica where strangers approach children, pretending to know them based on details gathered from social media.

“If I thought the child had friends that they would tell, I would not approach him,” Reynolds said.

“If I thought the father was a threat, I would not approach the child. A mother that’s having problems with the family? Well, here comes the superhero to help out.”

PARENTS SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY COULD BE A TARGET FOR PREDATORS

Criminologist and security expert Robert Finzi-Smith warns that predators do target parents, too.

“When you put certain things on the Internet, you are letting people into what should be your private space, and it makes your movements predictable,” he explained to The Gleaner.

“They can walk up to your child and call them by name, tell them their mother’s name, mention their favorite sport. That makes the child feel like they must know this person.”

He added, “What has happened, and will continue to happen as long as people keep going after ‘likes’, is that if someone wants to hurt you, they come at you through your children.”

As the Jamaican saying goes, “If yuh can’t ketch Quaco, ketch him shut.”

Additionally, Finzi-Smith said that criminal groups monitor social media activities to pick potential victims.

“All they need to know is what basic school your child goes to. What the uniform looks like. And they don’t even need to know what your child looks like,” he shared.

“Sometimes parents describe their difficulties with school drop-offs and pickups, making it easy for strangers to figure out their routine. People take for granted the daily activities of their children, but those are key details for someone who wants to do real harm.”

SHARE CONTENT CAREFULLY TO PROTECT CHILDREN

While the dangers remain, some parents like Desmond ‘Koolie’ Thomas, who shares content on TikTok with his four-year-old daughter, Shayanna Thomas, have found ways to post their children online without jeopardising their safety.

Although he goes live daily, Thomas is always skimming through the comments.

“Her education, I’m not putting that online. Where she sleeps? Not online. Maybe what we achieve, but nothing personal,” he explained to The Gleaner.

His daughter’s uniform does not have identifying crests or logos.

“If someone asks what school she goes to, we block them immediately. If you’re here to enjoy the content, enjoy it. But if anybody asks those types of questions we just remove them, because that’s not important,” he said.

Shayanna, he said, is not allowed to use social media, so she isn’t exposed to or left vulnerable online.

Thomas recalled one disturbing incident when he was combing her hair on ‘Live’, when a comment left him flabbergasted.

“One big man commented on the ‘Live’ and said him wish him did have her to marry her,” he shared.

Despite this, most of the content he posts is done outside their home, often on the road or at the river, to keep their home private; and he tries to maintain a family-focused page.

THE DARK WEB AND CHILD EXPLOITATION

Another growing concern is the role of the Dark Web in child exploitation. Finzi-Smith warned that images posted online can be stolen, manipulated, and circulated in illegal online spaces.

One particular danger is the ability to download and redistribute freely on TikTok.

The Dark Web, Smith said, is like a painting on the wall that is constantly taken down but somehow reappears.

“You can’t get it back,” he said. “Once you post it, it’s there.”

Gordon Harrison agreed, saying, “The Dark Web is an untapped source that has a number of possibilities that are predominantly negative. With the advent of AI and other forms of technology, it makes it very easy to manipulate the images of children and, in fact, anyone that’s placed on social media.”

That is why the ‘Be Smart, Be Social’ campaign teaches parents and children how to safely navigate social media, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) and deep-fake videos and images are tarnishing the reputation of children.

“You can be manipulated to be placed in a compromising position, you can be used to make words come out of your mouth – things that you are purported to have said can be portrayed,” Gordon Harrison said.

The fabrication of children’s social media posts can then lead to real-life consequences, such as explosion and parental punishment.

“It can lead to a very distressing set of circumstances if a child goes online and sees these things associated with themselves when they know they didn’t, in fact, do it,” she explained.

ADDICTIVE CULTURE OF SHARING AND ITS IMPACT

Sadly, society tends to exacerbate these circumstances, as people are hungry for views and likes.

“We are in a culture not only in Jamaica, but across the world, where there is an addiction to sharing. We see something that looks sensational, outrageous, almost impossible, and the first thing we want to do is send it to our friends,” the Children’s Advocate said.

Children also become more susceptible to false accusations and cyberbullying.

“What’s equally distressing is that if the person portrayed is someone you don’t like, there is a great temptation to share it out of vindictiveness,” she added.

“That, of course, can lead to emotional distress for the child, disciplinary proceedings at school, or even worse.”

Although there are no laws that criminalise adults for exploiting children for content, there are laws that protect a child against child pornography and exploitation.

Gordon Harrison, who is also Jamaica’s first National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, noted, “Really, what we have to rely upon is moral persuasion, reasoning with parents so that they understand the kind of paradigm shift they have to adopt, given the dangers that lurk in all sorts of places and the misuse that can be made of information that is overshared.”

COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY NEEDED FOR SCHOOLS

National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica President, Stewart Jacobs, is advocating for a comprehensive social media policy to protect students from excessive online exposure, as none exists under the Education Act to regulate this behaviour.

“We need to mitigate against those who are doing it (posting in uniform) and stem those who think of doing it,” Jacobs stressed to The Gleaner.

“Right now there is a very thin line; but for now, the best thing to do is have an education campaign to sensitise students. And where it happens, give a cease-and-desist order, and that child should be reprimanded for it.”

Although schools post students in uniform online for official purposes, there is a difference with parents posting children’s images online for content, he noted.

For schools, children are the face of campaigns, sports, and academics, but Jacobs said that parental permission and content approval by the principal are necessary.

Additionally, while most school content is not posted in real time, Jacobs believes that it shouldn’t remain online after it has served its intended purpose.

Jacobs is urging the Government to expedite the process of developing a comprehensive policy on students’ social media engagement. He emphasised the need for a structured policy, so that administrators can act confidently within clear guidelines, thus removing the uncertainty.

He also added that these policies must be put in place before the next academic year.

However, Jacobs is urging parents to play their part by monitoring their children and censoring the type of content they post.

A school uniform does not just reflect the student but also the school, he added, referencing a recent incident where a student posted a music video in his school uniform together with age-inappropriate content.

Jacobs said he was more shocked to discover that the boy had an enabling parent, an example of the difficulty schools face in disciplining children when parents have their own rules.

KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Koolie represents the parents who are vigilant of their children’s social media exposure.

“It comes down to the type of audience and the content that they post,” the father told The Gleaner.

“They have to be themselves, because I can’t tell them to do what I do; but find out what their purpose is and why they’re doing it. Ensure that they stay on the right path. That nuh mean seh dem supposed to post dem kids half-naked on the Internet or them kids do certain stuff and dem agree wid it.”

He noted that every child is different, but “find fi dem style and make sure dem bring it to life. Make sure you protect them based on the type of songs they use for the videos, because dem might post a dancehall song and dem get an audience that is not nice, and then everybody starts to give backlash for the song you use on a baby’s or a teenager’s video.”

NAVIGATING THE RISKS AND REWARDS OF SOCIAL MEDIA EXPOSURE

As the conversation and concerns around children’s online exposure continue, the experts advise that parents should always be mindful of sharing every detail of their child’s life on the Internet and exposing them to predators.

Social media will continue to evolve, and dads like Koolie are urging fellow parents to be responsible and set an example by being mindful and protective of their children.

A strong warning from the experts: Parents and children, don’t let your social media platforms become a hunting ground for predators.

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com